Management training evaluation: a case study of a retail store chain

Abstract

Objectives of the paper are: 1. to compare the theoretical concept of effective management training evaluation with obvious practice in one of the largest retail store chains in Latvia; 2. to identify the main strengths and weaknesses in training process implementation in practice; 3. to study the employee attitude (assessment) to the training provided.

The research question: what are the main differences between theory and practice in organising management training? What are the causes of these differences and how to resolve them?

The methodological base of the paper consists of literature analysis of training concept and efficiency criteria. The main theoretical base is Donald L Kirkpatrick‘s 4 level training evaluation model.

The research methods: literature analysis, in-depth interviews with company executives and training providers, the employee survey, statistical methods of data analysis.

In the research the authors are investigating the training process from the theoretical and practical point of view. The main attention is given to the successive stages of training process: making decision to provide training; identification of training needs, objectives, tasks; expected results and determination of the effectiveness criteria of training, the training provider‘s choice and training programme development. At the end of training, participants‘ reaction or attitude to training is measured. This study does not cover the research of employees‘ behaviour or job performance changes as training results.

The originality/value of the paper – the authors use training research methodology based on Donald L. Kirkpatrick‘s model. It is the first practical impact study of such nature and scope in the Latvian supermarket network.